It felt like Jacob Duffy might help the Black Caps steal another win over the West Indies for a brief moment. The Otago seamer nabbed two late wickets to create some panic among the Windies’ faithful. They need not have worried. The Black Caps’ total of 268 for nine was 20 or 30 runs shy of a competitive total in Bridgetown yesterday. West Indies seamer Jayden Seales hit Nathan Smith down the ground to finish off a two-wicket win in the 48th over. New Zealand won the series 3-2. But the home team had the better of the dead rubber. Sherfane Rutherford (61) and Shimron Hetmyer (69 not out) starred with the bat. They added 95 for the fifth wicket, which more or less secured the win. It got a little closer at the end than it should have. But this game was arguably lost when the Black Caps failed to convert a decent start with the bat into a bigger total. They lost an early wicket. But Will Young (56) and Nick Kelly (64), and later Tom Latham (69), got the visitors on track for a score of about 300. Young and Kelly put on 86 for the second wicket. But as has so often happened during this series, the bowling side struck back. Young was bowled trying to reverse sweep Vital Lawes. Mark Chapman dispatched the first delivery he faced for four but holed out on 11. Latham joined Kelly at the wicket and the pair wrestled back momentum. They added 55 before Kelly charged down the pitch and sliced a catch to Justin Greaves at cover. The West Indies fought back with four wickets in the final 10 overs and restricted the Black Caps to under 270. Latham’s demise at deep midwicket was key. West Indian openers Ackeem Auguste (34 from 24) and Greaves (22 from 15) attacked early. Duffy and Smith watched helplessly as the deliveries disappeared to the rope or over it. The onslaught ended when Auguste chopped on and Greaves offered a catch. The double breakthrough slowed their progress. Jayden Lennox (three for 35) used that as leverage to pry Shai Hope (39) and Keacy Carty (20) from the crease. The journeyman left-arm spinner had a productive series, nabbing 14 wickets — five more than anyone else. The home side were wavering at 123 for four. Sherfane Rutherford was dropped on seven by Young out in the deep. That proved to be a crucial blunder as the 27-year-old left-hander went on a hitting spree, clobbering five sixes and two fours. But on 61, he took off down the pitch like he was chasing a 50-dollar note, swung hard, missed by plenty and was stumped by Latham. The shot felt unnecessary. He had clouted six the previous ball and the West Indies were not under any scoreboard pressure. It also exposed the tail. But Hetmyer was set and hitting the ball nicely. All was well, right? Not quite. Duffy returned and snapped up two wickets in two balls. Seales came out to face the hat-trick ball. He saw that off, but his side were eight down and still needed 21 runs to win. The late drama helped spice up what was, in reality, a comfortable enough chase for the West Indies. New Zealand H Nicholls b Forde 10 W Young b Lawes 56 N Kelly c Greaves b Motie 64 M Chapman c Motie b Lawes 11 T Latham c Auguste b Joseph 69 M Bracewell c Hope b Joseph 1 M Santner run out 13 N Smith c Greaves b Seales 18 K Clarke run out 4 J Duffy not out 5 Extras (b 5, lb 7, nb 2, w 3) 17 Total (for 9wkts, 50 overs) 268 Fall: 1-16, 2-102, 3-127, 4-181, 5-182, 6-230, 7-239, 8-247, 9-268. Bowling: M Forde 10-1-49-1 (1w), J Seales 10-1-57-1 (2w), V Lawes 10-0-63-2 (2nb), A Joseph 10-1-38-2, G Motie 10-0-49-1. West Indies A Auguste b Smith 34 J Greaves c Smith b Duffy 22 K Carty b Lennox 20 S Hope c Clarke b Lennox 39 S Rutherford st Latham b Bracewell 61 S Hetmyer not out 69 G Motie c Santner b Lennox 4 M Forde b Duffy 8 A Joseph c Nicholls b Duffy 0 J Seales not out 5 Extras (7w) 8 Total (for 8wkts, 47.3 overs) 269 Fall: 1-57, 2-59, 3-118, 4-123, 5-218, 6-239, 7-248, 8=248 Bowling: J Duffy 8-0-67-3 (4w), N Smith 7.3-0-51-1 (2w), M Santner 10-0-39-0 (1w), K Clarke 3-0-13-0, J Lennox 9-0-35-3, M Bracewell 10-0-64-1. Result: West Indies won by two wickets.
